“How was the party?” Sydney exclaims when she picks up, “Those pics you sent over are stellar.”

She sounds like she’s walking with even more vigor than usual this morning.

“Considering Jack’s going to Iceland next week with Amy Pennington on the trip I planned for us next year, not bad. I’m still standing.” I take ground turkey out of the fridge to make chili and then get the garlic, a yellow onion, canned tomatoes, pinto, and kidney beans out of the pantry.

“What an ass! I hope at least Rune made him jealous.”

“I guess Rune did, enough that Jack warned me off him,” as I walk into the pantry to get out Uncle Reuben’s trusty crockpot.

"Seriously?” Sydney huffs with indignation.

“He kindly told me, as a friend, Rune’s too famous for me,” which is embarrassing to share, but she’s my sister.

“What a load of shit!” Sydney exclaims, “I bet Rune’s delighted to finally have his chance.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I laugh as I set the crock pot on the counter and open the cans. I appreciate her filial loyalty, “But Rune admits to being a train wreck right now.”

“Aren’t we all,” Syd says darkly.

“Oh no, what’s up?” I pause in the middle of opening up a can of pinto beans.

“Did you call to chat about the party, or is there something else? Because when I start my latest rant about Mom, there may be no stopping me for a while,” Syd warns.

“The roof’s leaking in our old bedroom,” I tell her, “We may need to replace the whole thing ASAP.”

“That’s so what I don’t need right now,” Syd groans, “I may be in a much better place financially soon, but Bill’s still not drawing a salary from the bike shop, and I doubt he’ll let me tap into our house savings fund for this.”

“Darn,” I say; I was hoping this was precisely what she’d be able to do, “I thought the shop was doing well now. I thought you two engineered it back into the black.”

“Oh, we did. It’s doing so well Bill and his mom are thinking of buying back the shop they sold when Bill’s dad died,” she says sharply, “and thanks to my connections, they’re becoming the biggest ebike dealer in the region.”

“So, we do need to sell Theo’s collection,” I say, “Mom’s going to be so unhappy. You know she wants us to give Franklin Haus a big portion of it.”

“Sell it all,” Sheila says fiercely, “Mom is so mud for me right now.”

“Whoa, what’s going on? She texted me and told me the store windows are coming together beautifully, and the pics Dad sent look fantastic.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“The windows are incredible, but she’s making everyone’s life hell in the process. On top of that, she had Dad contact the press,” Syd sighs.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” I ask, confused, “Won’t it make up for her being a pill to deal with?”

“It would be if they were focused on getting news coverage for the store, but she just can’t avoid hogging into the spotlight. She stopped working yesterday to go for a ride with a reporter. When I overheard their conversation, it was all about Mom discovering the joy of riding an ebike during the pandemic and her return to designing windows.”

“Crap!” I proclaim, getting out a couple of cloves of garlic from where I keep them in a jar on the counter.

“Yep, and it was a reporter from the regional NPR station.”

“Well, that can still be a positive for the store, right?” I ask, chopping as quietly as I can.

“Don’t bring sunshine to my pity party,” Syd growls, “Bill and his mom are livid. The reporter barely talked to them.”

“Oh no,” I wince, this isn't good.

“It gets worse,” Syd warns, “The reporter said he’s going to pitch it for national coverage for the Fourth of July weekend. I tell you, Shells, no good deep of mine ever goes unpunished.”

“I’m so sorry,” I commiserate. This grabbing the spotlight is how Mom often found herself on the outs with the event companies she worked with. She doesn’t seem to understand the need to be a team player.

“Well, I’m done with it,” Syd says, “My head is about to crack from the stress of getting everyone to play nice. Dad has been so helpful with Leif, but the sooner he takes Mom back to Santa Monica, the better. She’s totally alienated Bill and his mom,” she says tiredly, “I’m already on their shit list because they want Leif to go to private school next year, and I don’t.”

“How could you afford that if you’re already paying all the bills?” I ask as I shake red pepper flakes into the chili.

“How, indeed, they think we should sell Theo’s place too.”

The ground has dropped out from under me, “But I thought the plan was for you to move up here soon before Leif goes to High School; I thought Bill had a connection with REI for a job,” I say, starting to vigorously empty the rest of the cans of beans and tomatoes into the crockpot.

“Bill seems to have forgotten all about that now that he’s a hometown bike hero. Listen, Shells, I’m seriously considering taking the job in Seattle that I passed up to help the bike shop during the pandemic.”

“Wow, really?” I ask, crumbling the ground turkey into the pot. The company Sydney works for has its U.S. headquarters in Seattle.

“Please don’t breathe a word of this to anyone. It’s more money, and my company’s so interested in me moving they’ll pay for an apartment near the office for the first year.”

“My lips are sealed,” I say, excited for myself to possibly have my sister and nephew closer, “Will Bill make the move, too?”

“I have no idea,” she says sadly, “It doesn’t bear thinking about. But enough of my drama. Any ideas on how to best sell Theo’s stuff and make a good profit? The sooner we finish paying off his debts and the roof is taken care of, the better.”

“A few,” I tell her, “Rune wants to see if any of his TV or film costume contacts are interested.”

“Sweet! That would particularly annoy Mom.”

“Why?” I ask as I stir the chopped garlic into the chili.

“Well, she has that weird beef against the Borstads,” Syd reminds me, “particularly Gunnar and Rune since we were such friends.”

“Oh yeah, the Beautiful Blue Collar Borstads Boys,” I say, remembering Mom’s nickname for them, “She was a little weird on the phone when I told her Rune would be my date to the fundraiser. She asked me if he’d come out of the closet yet.”

“There’s no way Rune’s gay,” Syd asserts with a snort.

“I don’t think so either,” I say, thinking happily about our kisses on the beach, “but I’m curious why you’re so adamant.”

“Look him up online; for one thing, he’s quite the Romeo. It’s too bad he’s not the right age demographic for my market. He could help me sell a lot of ebikes,” Syd chuckles, “For another, he was madly in love with you as a kid.”